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Our New Book

“OUR TOWN captures and preserves the essence of this place, with all its eccentricity and complexity. The stunning final product leaves even a longtime resident like me feeling she never really knew the place.” REVIEW

Our Documentary

KELLY JOHNSON’s decision to end his life was his final gift to the neighborhood he loved. This documentary, filmed entirely on Fillmore Street, captures his joyous final weeks. VIEW

When we started telling friends that we were moving from San Francisco to Boston, we could count on getting one of two responses: an incredulous “Why?” or “Boston’s great. It’s a lot like San Francisco.”

My partner Nanette Bisher and I were moving because I had just landed a dream job. We’d always sworn we’d never leave San Francisco. After years of hopscotching across the country for work, we’d found our way to the Bay Area in 1999 and for 12 years we were happy — Nanette as the art director first of the Examiner and then the Chronicle, me as an editor at several business magazines. But the new job — as editor of the Harvard Business Review, where I’d get the opportunity to build on the success of a storied publication — was too good to turn down. And it was in Boston.

So we reluctantly agreed to give ourselves three years. In that time, we figure, we’ll either fall in love with Boston or we’ll come back home.

And by home, we mean our place at Bush and Fillmore, because nowhere we’ve ever lived has felt so much like home. We love our apartment in the Amelia. But home is much more than our condo. It’s our daily visit with Gary at Barry for Pets, where he’d ply our Corgis, Harry and Sadie, with treats and sit for a few minutes to discuss our beloved Giants. Home is our daily visit to the Fillmore Bakeshop, where I’d take way too long deciding which cookie to buy, mostly so I could spend a little more time with Elena and Doug, the daughter-father owners. Home is Alta Plaza and Mollie Stone’s, Osaka and Woodhouse Fish Co. The great people and frames at Invision. And home is the neighbors who became dear friends — our family, really.

Leaving was not easy. “Why?” indeed.

I got to Boston first; Nanette drove across the country with Harry and Sadie. During my first months in Boston, I kept looking for the qualities that would make people compare it to San Francisco. It’s small but cosmopolitan, like San Francisco. There are great restaurants, like San Francisco. And there are beautiful residential areas, which we discover as we look for a neighborhood that feels comfortable.

The truth is that Boston’s magic has yet to reveal itself fully to us, but we’ve gotten glimpses of it here and there: in the most delicious lobster sandwich ever, from a hole-in-the-wall where you eat in a more or less converted carport. At Regina’s Pizzeria, a 90-year-old mainstay of Boston’s North End, where the waiters are rude but the pies are delicious. At an arts and crafts sale in the South End, where the beautiful bronze pears were cast from fruit the artist had taken from Paul Revere’s yard. On the Cambridge street where a friend lives next to Julia Child’s house and across from e.e. cummings’ home.

That’s pretty great.

We’re starting to warm up to the place. I’m not sure when we’ll stop checking the weather in San Francisco, noting that when it’s 35 here, it’s 53 back there — a cruel numeric trick. But I do know that we’ll never find San Francisco in Boston. And that’s okay. I think we’ll learn to like Boston when we understand it better and can enjoy it on its own terms — lobster rolls, traditional pizza, historic sites around every corner.

It will take time.

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TAKING THE SCENIC ROUTE | Nanette Bisher

Driving cross-country with two Corgis and a pal was great. Here are some west to east highlights should you ever have to leave San Francisco:

The Groveland Hotel in Groveland, California, is a quirky Victorian beauty — and could be a weekend trip from San Francisco. Friendly people. Dogs are welcome in some rooms, in the outdoor eating areas and in the bar. A great stopping place enroute to Yosemite. Do not miss eating in the hotel restaurant. Had the best salmon dish. Ever. Price-wise? Higher end, but certainly not nosebleed.

In Utah: Drive I-75 from the I-15 east to the exit for Moab, Utah. Arches is the northernmost of the national parks that drops south into Bryce Canyon and then the Grand Canyon. The views along just about every minute of this drive are breathtaking.

Moab, Utah:Bucks Grill House and Vista Lounge. Amazing comfort food, if that includes Pheasant Pot Pie, the daily special when we were there. Culinary graduate takes on some great kitchens and then decides to open his own place back home in Moab. Yipee! Dress code seems to include pants that zip off at the knees. Starters include tasty treats like Mixed Game Sliders and Smoked Catfish Cake. Entrees are steaks to Turkey Pot Pie to Sweet Potato Vegetable Lasagna. Full bar. Nice wine list.

Reliance, Nebraska: Totally worth the detour to visit Carhenge — an homage to Stonehenge using classic cars instead of stone slabs. Built by James Reinders in 1987 during a family reunion. Makes every family reunion I have been to pale in comparison. Free and open 24/7 — except you need to get there during daylight to see it. It seems that this popular tourist site is for sale. So you could own it for $300,000.

Myers Grill and Catering, Williamsberg, Indiana: Recommended by the owner of the Crest Motel. Otherwise there wouldn’t be a chance of finding this place. Just two miles on the other side of the freeway, in the garage behind their home, Tracy and Michael Myers helm this not-to-be-missed treat. Great friendly group of locals. Food is simply delicious. A white board lists the 10 or so fresh salads for the day, including sauerkraut salad from Tracy’s grandma’s recipe when we were there — delicious, as was the pea salad and bean soup. We also had the most delicous and huge amounts of broasted chicken. Gallons of ice tea (we didn’t know it was byob.) Check for dinner for two was about $18. A one-of-a-kind experience not to be missed. Call 319-668-2321.

Current Issue

STREET TALK

LA BOULANGE TURNING INTO A NEW PIZZERIA

Workers are hammering and sawing away inside the long-shuttered La Boulange storefront on Fillmore. A sign promises it will be the new home of apizza, serving up “a pizza for everyone” that is fast and affordable — complete with organic dough and sauce.

Details are scant, but the quintessentially French Pierre Lauga, in charge for owner Pascal Rigo, promises pizzas will be priced reasonably, starting at $2.75 for a 10-incher. There’s speculation the ovens will be fired up and serving in late March.

In addition to pizza, beer and frozen yogurt will also be on the menu.

THREE DAY WEEKENDS AT THE ELITE CAFE

The Elite Cafe has extended its weekend brunch to Friday, trimming a day from Spacious, the co-working space that occupies the restaurant weekdays until 5 p.m.

For six years, the helpful staff offered hundreds of tastes at Spice Ace, the culinary boutique at 1821 Steiner named one of the world’s best spice shops.

But early in the new year, owners and neighborhood residents Olivia Dillan and Ben Balzer announced they would be closing the shop. Then came an ourpouring of appreciation from fans who swarmed the shop to stock their spice racks.

“January was our biggest month ever — even with a 30 percent discount,” says Dillan. “It was a customer success and a culinary success, if not a financial success. That means a lot.”

POPPING UP AND STICKING AROUND

Lots of new pop-ups are showing up on Fillmore, and some of them stick around.

Zuri, the three-month one-dress shop at 2029 Fillmore, has now moved into a long-term home at 1902 Fillmore, where Narumi Japanese antiques shuttered last fall after 37 years.

And Sweet & Spark, which first popped up inside Mudpie, has taken over the former hair salon at 2412 Fillmore.

“The state of retail has changed dramatically,” said Vasilios Kiniris, executive director of Fillmore’s merchants and a citywide merchant leader, who sees “many advantages” to pop-ups. “Business owners can dip their feet into a commercial community and see if their product or service is a good fit.”

A BUFFETT’SBACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Investor Warren Buffett’s late wife Susie lived in Pacific Heights for a time, and his son Peter owned a home on Scott Street.

Now his Berkshire Hathaway branded residential real estate company has opened an office in the neighborhood, taking the two spaces on California Street previously occupied by the Vino wine shop and Kuraya antiques. Paula Gold-Nocella and Peter Shovanes are leading the office.

LET US COUNT OUR MICHELIN STARS

How fortunate are we to live in this neighborhood? The new Michelin guide offers a clue.

• Three Fillmore restaurants got a star: SPQR, the Progress and State Bird Provisions, plus Octavia at Octavia and Bush and Spruce on Sacramento.

• At 3127 Fillmore, Atelier Crenn got three stars. Next door, the new Bar Crenn also got a star.

• And we can still claim Quince, now all beautifully grown up in Jackson Square, which also got a full set of three stars, and first planted its roots where Octavia is now.